Judith Rypma is a master faculty specialist of English at Western Michigan University.

Rypma teaches courses in mythology, folklore, world literature, and literature for children and adolescents. She has offered recent seminars in witches in literature, folk literature and medievalism in children's literature.

After a career as a travel journalist, Rypma earned an M.F.A. in creative writing at WMU. Her poetry and short stories appear frequently in literary journals. Her latest poetry collection, “Amber Notes”, was recently published by FutureCycle Press. “Rapunzel's Hair”, an earlier chapbook that features contemporary responses to fairytales won the All Nations Press Chapbook Award. A new collection for children, “Rocks In My Head: Poetry for Young People About Rocks, Minerals, and Crystals”, was just released.

Rypma has served on various WMU committees, including faculty senate executive board, international studies council and professional concerns committee.

As a board member of the Kalamazoo Russian cultural association, she organizes the academic portion of the Russian Festival held annually on WMU's campus. Rypma is also the faculty director for the Department of English's new study abroad program: Russian literature and culture in St. Petersburg, Russia.